Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Sustainability Management Software

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Companies have made considerable progress in assessing the sustainability of their processes and products, including the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. However, it is surprising that little attention has been given to the sustainability performance of software products. For this article, we chose a case study approach to explore the extent, to which software manufacturers have considered sustainability criteria for their products. We selected a manufacturer of sustainability management software on the assumption that they would be more likely to integrate elements of sustainability performance in their products. In the case study, we applied a previously developed set of criteria for sustainable software (SCSS) using a questionnaire and experiments, to assess a web-based sustainability management software product regarding its sustainability performance. The assessment finds that despite a sustainability conscious manufacturer, a systematic assessment of sustainability regarding software products is missing in the case study. This implies that sustainability assessment for software products is still novel, corresponding knowledge is missing and suitable tools are not yet being widely applied in the industry. The SCSS presents a suitable approach to close this gap, but it does require further refinement, for example regarding its applicability to web-based software on external servers.
Original languageEnglish
Article number88
JournalTechnologies
Volume6
Issue number3
Number of pages15
ISSN2227-7080
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19.09.2018

Bibliographical note

We thank the Research Group Informatics and Sustainability at the University of Zurich, the Öko-Institut e.V. in Berlin, the Institute for Software Systems at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld and the Centre of Sustainability Management at Leuphana University Lüneburg. The case study would not have been possible without the help of WeSustain GmbH, we thank Niclas Schwarz and Jessica Warrings for access to the ESM tool and answering the questionnaires.

Documents

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Was macht ein Buch zum Bestseller? Zum Geheimnis des Erfolgs von Charlotte Link.
  2. Brüchige Hermetik – Zu geschichtstheoretischen Figuren bei Spengler und Kittler
  3. Different responses of ant species to sugars and amino acids in a subtropical forest of China 
  4. Von der Internationalisierung der Hochschule zur transkulturellen Wissenschaft
  5. Use Cases for Artificial Intelligence in the Product Experimentation Lifecycle
  6. Schrifliches Argumentieren verbessern über Fähigkeits- und Fächergrenzen hinweg
  7. Psychological interventions to prevent the onset of major depression in adults
  8. Termineinhaltung versus Bestände - Positionierung mit einem Estscheidungsmodell
  9. The Influence of Wall Thickness on Hollow Lateral Extrusion of Tubular Billets
  10. Einsatzfelder betrieblicher Umweltinformationssysteme anhand des EMA Frameworks
  11. Correlation of trends in cashmere production and declines of large wild mammals
  12. Innovation und Evolution von Geschäftsmodellen dargestellt am Beispiel BP Solar
  13. Gender Differences in Grip-Strength Depending on Arousal and Valence of Emotions
  14. Die Umsetzung von Art. 7 Energieeffizienz-Richtlinie 2012/27/EU in nationales Recht
  15. Nachhaltige Entwicklung ländlicher Räume durch Feminisierung der Landwirtschaft?
  16. Differences in adjustment flexibility between regular and temporary agency work
  17. The feasibility of using Apple's ResearchKit for recruitment and data collection
  18. Optimal grazing management rules in semi-arid rangelands with uncertain rainfall
  19. Marktzugang als Hebel: So funktioniert die Bekämpfung finanzieller Intransparenz
  20. Im musikalischen Stadtteil der Sprache Zu Katrin Eggers' Wittgenstein-Monographie
  21. Party Goals, Institutional Veto Points and the Discourse on Political Corruption
  22. Comprehension of climate change and environmental attitudes across the lifespan
  23. Is this a Smart City? Narratives of city smartness and their critical assessment
  24. The impact of environmental sustainability on willingness to invest in startups
  25. Data quality assessment framework for critical raw materials. The case of cobalt
  26. The role of trust, expectation, and deception when buying organic animal products
  27. News, sex, and the fight between corporate control and human communication online